Excerpt: ...oinder of that party would have been permitted by the statutes governing joinder of parties.” CCP § 428.20. The Court finds that the proposed cross‐complaint arises out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences as the cause of action which the plaintiff alleges in the complaint. Specifically, the proposed cross‐complaint alleges causes of action for equitable indemnification, express indemnity, and decla...

Excerpt: ...by demurrer on the ground that “[t]he pleading does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action.” CCP § 430.10(e). (a) Before filing a demurrer pursuant to this chapter, the demurring party shall meet and confer in person or by telephone with the party who filed the pleading that is subject to demurrer for the purpose of determining whether an agreement can be reached that would resolve the objections to be raised in the demur...

Excerpt: ... “any matter relevant to the leave requested,” which includes but is not limited to: (1) The necessity and the reasons for the discovery. (2) The diligence or lack of diligence of the party seeking the discovery or the hearing of a discovery motion, and the reasons that the discovery was not completed or that the discovery motion was not heard earlier. 2 (3) Any likelihood that permitting the discovery or hearing the discovery motion will pre...

Excerpt: ...ay move for judgment on the pleadings if the complaint states sufficient facts to constitute a cause of action and the answer does not state facts sufficient to constitute a defense to the complaint. Here, Plaintiff has alleged a common count cause of action to collect on a debt; specifically, account stated, open book account and money lent. “The only essential allegations of a common count are ‘(1) the statement of indebtedness in a certain...

Excerpt: ... “any matter relevant to the leave requested,” which includes but is not limited to: (1) The necessity and the reasons for the discovery. (2) The diligence or lack of diligence of the party seeking the discovery or the hearing of a discovery motion, and the reasons that the discovery was not completed or that the discovery motion was not heard earlier. 2 (3) Any likelihood that permitting the discovery or hearing the discovery motion will pre...

Excerpt: ...Notice: Defendants requests for judicial notice are GRANTED. Summary Judgment Standard: CCP § 437c states a motion for summary judgment shall be granted if all the papers submitted show that there is no triable issue of material fact as to the challenged cause of action and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. “A defendant…has met his or her burden of showing that a cause of action has no merit if the party has s...

Excerpt: ...al Notice of Defendant's answers to discovery where Defendant has admitted, that all the allegations are true, thus entitling Plaintiff to judgment on the pleadings. Request for Judicial Notice: Plaintiff's request for judicial notice is unopposed and GRANTED. Merits of Motion: Plaintiff has alleged a common count cause of action to collect on a debt. “The only essential allegations of a common count are ‘(1) the statement of indebtedness in ...

Excerpt: ...order. The motion shall be “based upon new or different facts, circumstances, or law, make application to the same judge or court that made the order, to reconsider the matter and modify, amend, or revoke the prior order.” Id. The application must include an affidavit showing what application was made before, when and to what judge, what orders or decision were 2 made, and what new or different facts, circumstances, or law are claimed to be s...

Excerpt: ...t, whether pecuniary or nonpecuniary, has been conferred on the general public or a large class of persons, (b) the necessity and financial burden of private enforcement, or of enforcement by one public entity against another public entity, are such as to make the award appropriate, and (c) such fees should not in the interest of justice be paid out of the recovery, if any. With respect to actions involving public entities, this section applies t...

Excerpt: ...icant benefit, whether pecuniary or nonpecuniary, has been conferred on the general public or a large class of persons, (b) the necessity and financial burden of private enforcement, or of enforcement by one public entity against another public entity, are such as to make the award appropriate, and (c) such fees should not in the interest of justice be paid out of the recovery, if any. With respect to actions involving public entities, this secti...

Excerpt: ... GRANTED. Merits of the Motion: CCP §396b(b) provides in relevant part: In its discretion, the court may order the payment to the prevailing party of reasonable expenses and attorney's fees incurred in making or resisting the motion to transfer whether or not that party is otherwise entitled to recover his or her costs of action. In determining whether that order for expenses and fees shall be made, the court shall take into consideration (1) wh...

Excerpt: ...that further meet and confer efforts would be unproductive. The Court will therefore proceed to issue a ruling on the merits. Standards of Demurrer: A generally demurrer should be sustained if the complaint fails to “state facts sufficient to constitute a valid cause of action.” CCP § 430.10(e). A demurrer can also be brought on the grounds that the pleading is “uncertain.” CCP § 430.10(f). A demurrer can be used to challenge defects th...

Excerpt: ...overruled. Merits of Motion. The purpose of a summary judgment motion is to cut through the pleadings to determine whether trial is necessary. Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 841. The Court must grant the motion if all the papers submitted show “there is no triable issue as to any material fact” and that the “moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Id. “A defendant or cross‐defendant has me...

Excerpt: ...al. App. 4th 1462, 1468. CCP § 1281.2 requires the court to grant a petition to compel arbitration where it determines that an agreement to arbitrate the controversy exists. “When presented with a petition to compel arbitration the trial court's first task is to determine whether the parties have in fact agreed to arbitrate the dispute.” Avery v. Integrated Healthcare Holdings, Inc. (2013) 218 Cal. App. 4th 50, 59. A party seeking to compel ...

Excerpt: ...asement for ingress and egress to and from the Upper Sacramento River. The Amended Judgment also ordered Defendants to remove or modify the portion of the chain link fence that prevents Plaintiff's use of the easement. Now Plaintiffs seek further orders against the Defendants on the grounds that the gate and chain link fence continue to interference with Plaintiff's easement. The general rule is “the owner of the servient tenement may make any ...

Excerpt: ...ss the moving party's evidence. Further, the separate statement in opposition is not in any of the formats prescribed by CRC 3.150(h). The Court will overlook the procedural defects and issue a ruling on the merits. Evidentiary Defects: Defendant has submitted no evidence in support of its opposition and separate statement. The Court notes that Defendant's separate statement cites to a declaration but no declaration was submitted. Therefore, ther...

Excerpt: ...ear the motion on its merits. Request for Judicial Notice. The Court may take judicial notice of “[o]fficial acts of the legislative, executive, and judicial departments of the United States and of any state of the United States” under Evidence Code section 452(c). Further, under § 452(b), the Court is permitted to take notice of “[r]egulations and legislative enactments issued by or under the authority of the United States or any public e...

Excerpt: ...hould pursue claims against, and that if a claim was submitted to the City, it would be denied and forwarded to the lessee of the property. In the months following, counsel for the Petitioner's legal assistant corresponded with several insurers. On July 8, 2019, the insurer rejected the claim and suggested it be forwarded to the City of Redding, who was responsible for the maintenance of the parking lot. Petitioner ultimately submitted a claim an...

Excerpt: ...rial.” CRC Rule 3.1332(c)(7). Counsel's vacation has been found to be good cause (albeit in a stipulated continuance). See Cotton v. StarCare Medical Group (2010) 183 Cal. App. 4th 437. Trial counsel's engagement in another trial is good cause. See, e.g., Oliveras v. County of Los Angeles (2004) 120 Cal. App. 4th 1389. In determining whether to grant or deny a motion to continue, the Court considers a number of factors, as outlined in CRC 3.133...

Excerpt: ...erved on the third party. CRC 3.1346. No proof of service was filed in this matter, however, a responsive pleading by the Defendants indicates that service of the motion was made by mail on December 13, 2 2019. Furthermore, the motion is untimely under CCP § 2025.480, which requires the motion to compel attendance at a deposition “shall be made no later than 60 days after the completion of the record of the deposition.” Although the motion i...

Excerpt: ...ableness of the hourly rate or the amount of hours spent. As a preliminary note, a Substitution of Attorney was filed on behalf of Defendant LATAP on November 25, 2019. LATAP appears in pro per. Mr. Cogan remains attorney of record for Defendants Henry Lopez and Jan Lopez. Mr. Cogan has filed an objection on behalf of all three defendants, despite the fact that he is no longer attorney of record for LATAP. The Court has reviewed the briefing and,...

Excerpt: ... the Court can also retain jurisdiction over the parties to enforce the settlement until performance in full of the terms of the settlement. The parties entered into a settlement orally in open court on June 24, 2019. The terms of the settlement were memorialized by the Court in writing and signed by both parties and attached to the minute order of June 24, 2019. The settlement provided that Defendant would pay the amount of $15,000.00, plus 7% i...

Excerpt: ...y. Objections: Plaintiff has submitted four objections to evidence. The objections are OVERRULED. Summary Adjudication Standard: CCP § 437c states a motion for summary adjudication shall be granted if all the papers submitted show that there is no triable issue of material fact as to the challenged cause of action and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. “A defendant…has met his or her burden of showing that a ca...

Excerpt: ... uncertain. CCP § 430.10(e) & (f). Procedural Issues: Cornerstone's opposition claims that the present demurrer is untimely. Cornerstone's Proof of Service of Summons appears to make reference to the Plaintiff's summons for the Complaint. The Court notes that Cornerstone has not obtained a summons as to the new party, BCA, as required by CCP 428.60. The proof of service is therefore invalid. Without proper proof of service on BCA, the timeframe ...

Excerpt: ...ion rather than merely convenient or beneficial to its preparation and “reasonable in amount.” CCP § 1033.5(c)(2) and (3). The right to costs is statutory in nature and a court has no discretion to award costs not authorized by statute. Ladas v. California State Auto. Assn. (1993) 19 Cal.App.4th 761, 774. However, the court does have the power to disallow costs “allowable as a matter of right” if they were not “reasonably necessary,”...